Nobody can hide from “Dr. Lew” as he elicits ideas and asks participants to share their eureka moments. “It’s about the people sitting in those seats,” Bender says. “Nothing is more important than that defining principle.”
“You don’t just sit there and listen,” says Mark DeVivo, a forestry foreman who graduated from the Illinois Public Service Institute last year. Participants work on interactive exercises with different groups each day. DeVivo explains their ideas on negative behaviors and their impact on the team.
“It’s refreshing to talk to others who are in the same boat,” says Rob Horne, an engineering supervisor who’s completed two of the program’s three-year curriculum. “Illinois Public Service Institute provides an environment where you get a chance to exhale and learn at the same time.”